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I'm writing a letter to my MP to highlight the widespread and apparently unlawful use of £1 a minute and £1.50 a minute premium-rate automated appointment booking lines by various embassies to arrange short-stay visas (e.g. Schengen visas) for non-EU spouses of UK/EU nationals living in the UK. I'd like to quote some figures to illustrate just how many people are potentially affected by this nonsense. Specifically I need:

1) The number of UK nationals with non-EU spouses.

2) The number of UK-based EU nationals (including UK nationals) who have travelled from the UK to another Member State with their non-EU spouses/family members in the last, say, 12 months, and who would have paid £1/£1.50 a minute to phone premium-rate automated telephone appointment booking systems to arrange short-stay visas.

If this information is not readily available, it might be possible to obtain it though Freedom of Information requests from various sources. All suggestions welcome.

I'm writing a letter to my MP to highlight the widespread and apparently unlawful use of £1 a minute and £1.50 a minute premium-rate automated appointment booking lines by various embassies to arrange short-stay visas (e.g. Schengen visas) for non-EU spouses of UK/EU nationals living in the UK. I'd like to quote some figures to illustrate just how many people are potentially affected by this nonsense. Specifically I need:

1) The number of UK nationals with non-EU spouses.

2) The number of UK-based EU nationals (including UK nationals) who have travelled from the UK to another Member State with their non-EU spouses/family members in the last, say, 12 months, and who would have paid £1/£1.50 a minute to phone premium-rate automated telephone appointment booking systems to arrange short-stay visas.

If this information is not readily available, it might be possible to obtain it though Freedom of Information requests from various sources. All suggestions welcome.

When writing your letter it is important to differentiate between non-EU family members of EU nationals and others. The charging for visas (and so the use of premium rate booking numbers) is obviously permitted for 'others' it is the non-EU family members of EU nationals who are entitled to free movement and free visas.

Tobias - โทเบียส
If you want to know where I am, follow me on my Thailand-UK Blog.

Just been on the phone to the National Statistics Office. When a couple gives notice to get married/civilly partnered they're asked to give their countries of origin. However, this information is not passed onto the NSO. They only get the marriage/CP certificates so they simply have no figures available on EU/non-EU marriages/CPs.

The person I spoke with told me that the Home Office even can not get these figures because they simply don't exist.

Would anyone like to take an educated guess at how many EU nationals living in the UK have a non-EU spouse?